Alliances for Sectoral Cooperation on Skills (ERASMUS-EDU-2024-PI-ALL-INNO-BLUEPRINT)

Alliances for Innovation aim to strengthen Europe’s innovation capacity by boosting innovation through cooperation and flow of knowledge among higher education, vocational education and training (both initial and continuous), and the broader socio-economic environment, including research.

They also aim to boost the provision of new skills and address skills mismatches by designing and creating new curricula for higher education (HE) and vocational education and training (VET), supporting the development of a sense of initiative and entrepreneurial mind-sets in the EU.

OBJECTIVES OF THE ACTION

These partnerships shall implement a coherent and comprehensive set of sectoral or cross-sectoral activities, which should be adaptable to future knowledge developments across the EU.

To boost innovation, the focus will be on talent and skills development. Firstly, digital competences have become increasingly important in all job profiles across the entire labour market. Secondly, the transition to a circular and greener economy needs to be underpinned by changes to qualifications and national education and training curricula to meet emerging professional needs for green skills and sustainable development. Thirdly, the twin digital and green transition requires an accelerated adoption of new technologies, in particular in the highly innovative deep tech domains, across all sectors of our economy and society.

Alliances for Sectoral Cooperation on Skills aim to create new strategic approaches and cooperation for concrete skills development solutions – both in the short and the medium term – in areas implementing a major action of the European Skills Agenda for sustainable competitiveness, social fairness and resilience, the Pact for Skills. The main objective of the Pact is to mobilise and incentivize all relevant stakeholders to take concrete actions for the upskilling and reskilling of the workforce, by pooling efforts and setting up partnerships, also at EU level, addressing the needs of the labour market, supporting green and digital transitions as well as national, regional and local skills and growth strategies. Therefore, the deliverables of Alliances for Sectoral Cooperation on Skills, i.e. sectoral skills intelligence, skills strategies, occupational profiles, training programmes, and long-term planning, will be an important contribution to the work of the ecosystem-based large-scale partnerships that have joined the Pact for Skills.

Alliances for Sectoral Cooperation on Skills seek to tackle skills gaps on the labour market that hamper growth, innovation and competitiveness in specific sectors or areas, aiming both at short term interventions and long term strategies. These Alliances will be implemented in the 14 industrial ecosystems identified in the New Industrial Strategy for Europe (see eligibility criteria).

The project proposals:

• must cover at least 8 Programme countries and involve at least 12 full partners
• must include 5 labour market actors (enterprises or companies, or industry or sector representatives, such as chambers, trade unions or trade associations) and at least 5 education and training providers (VET and/or HEIs) as full partners
• should include at least one HE institution and one VET provider involved as full partner in each proposal

Proposals should include the design of continuing vocational training programmes to address urgent skills needs of people in working age. Proposals should also include developments of emerging occupational profiles, related qualifications, which should cover upper and post-secondary VET levels (EQF levels 3 to 5) and tertiary levels (EQF levels 6 to 8). Furthermore, proposals should include the design of related core curricula and education and training programmes leading to those qualifications. Each project must include among its partners both vocational education and training (VET) and higher education (HE) organisations and labour market actors. Ideally they also involve policy bodies, certifying bodies as well as European sectoral associations and representatives of industry.

The following activities should be implemented:

• Developing a strategic approach to sectoral cooperation on skills
  • Setting up sustainable cooperation on skills development between key industry stakeholders including social partners, education and training providers, and public authorities (on national and regional level). The project will also aim at building cooperation between large companies and micro, small and medium companies (SMEs) throughout the value chain in a particular industrial ecosystem;
  • Gathering skills intelligence on a continuous basis: delivering relevant EU and country and/or regional level qualitative evidence and quantitative data according to linked open data format; developing a common methodology for anticipating future skills needs as well as monitoring (on a yearly basis) progress and the evolution of the demand and supply of skills based on credible foresight scenarios, drawing on the EU Skills Panorama and, where relevant, the work of the OECD, the World Economic Forum and existing Sector Skills Alliances;
  • Mapping of existing upskilling and reskilling support available in the sector/ecosystem (provided by industry, public and private stakeholders) and identifying which of those actions could be upscaled to support companies in the value chains;
  • Based on the skills intelligence, developing a skills strategy for the industrial ecosystem including priorities for actions to support the objectives of re- and upskilling the workforce of the industrial ecosystem and those who could join the sector (e.g. economically inactive). The strategy should detail how major trends, such as global, societal, and technological developments in the industrial ecosystem, are likely to affect jobs and skills needs. It should describe the expected timeline and give particular attention to the impact of digital and deep tech technologies. It should identify and define occupational profiles and related skills that are likely to emerge in the sector (i.e. will be completely new). It should also identify key industrial players and stakeholders that should be involved in the implementation of the strategy. This strategy should be the one of the first key deliverable of the project, indicating a clear set of activities, milestones and well-defined outputs, as well as setting out concrete priority actions suggesting how to match future demand and supply of skills for these emerging occupations. The strategy should be used as a base for building the partnership under the Pact for Skills;
  • Where relevant, ensuring that results of the project are available in open data format so that they can feed into the Cedefop’s Skills Intelligence and the European Skills, Competencies, Qualifications and Occupations (ESCO);
  • Delivering relevant EU and country and/or regional level qualitative evidence and quantitative data according to linked open data format.
• Designing European sector-wide agreed ‘core’ curricula and training programmes
  • Within the first year of activity (reactive response) In parallel to the actions above, all projects should rapidly address urgent skills needs in occupations in an industrial ecosystem resulting from the Covid-19 pandemic and the digital and green transition (evidence to be provided in the proposal):
• Drawing on, where available, the occupational profiles of the Classification of ESCO and existing competence frameworks283;
  • Designing continuing vocational training programmes for up-skilling and re-skilling the labour force by innovative blended and work-based learning;
  • Ensuring the good quality of the content and provision of the new training programmes by applying quality assurance methods in line with EQAVET and ESG (European Standards & Guidelines for Quality Assurance in Higher Education);
  • Ensuring rapid uptake and use of the training programmes by reaching out to main players in value chains within the industrial ecosystem, to Centres of Vocational Excellence, to regions implementing smart specialisation strategies285, to European Cluster Partnerships286 and to Knowledge and Innovation Communities (KICs) of the European Institute of Technology (EIT)287 that are active in the same industrial ecosystem.
  • Throughout the project (proactive response)
• Projects should then work on developing occupational profiles and training content for changing and emerging occupational profiles:
  • On the basis of identified skills needs for emerging occupational profiles in an industrial ecosystem, designing new modular VET curricula and related qualifications for initial education & training (E&T) (full curricula for integration in national education & training systems), and continuing vocational training programmes for upskilling or re-skilling the people of working age (modules addressing emerging skills needs);
  • These curricula and training programmes shall be composed of units of learning outcomes, in line with the European Qualifications Framework (EQF) / National Qualifications Frameworks (NQFs) and informed by ESCO; curricula should deliver job-specific skills as well as key competences, that include notably transversal skills and STEAM disciplines;
  • Integrating periods of work-based learning into the new training content, including opportunities to apply knowledge in practical “real life” workplace situations, and embedding trans-national learning experience whenever possible;
  • Applying quality management to the new training content either by applying the quality assurance principles of EQAVET and ESG or by using already existing quality assurance systems which, however, should be in line with EQAVET and ESG;
  • Promoting relevant sectoral qualifications including trans-national joint programmes (that include European Vocational Core Profiles290) awarded by more than one E&T provider, thus facilitating cross-border certification, and building mutual trust, contributing to increased learner and professional mobility in the sector.
• Delivering the ‘core’ curricula and training programmes
  • Developing delivery methodologies for the curricula and training programmes, that are adapted to the various target groups, using innovative approaches to teaching and learning, including the provision of work-based learning, the use of ICTs (e.g. blended learning, simulators, augmented reality, etc.), virtual/blended mobility solutions for learners and staff, and open educational resources (e.g. AI-enhanced learning, MOOC´s291);
  • Developing actions to facilitate inter-generational transfer of professional knowledge;
  • Describing the ways in which assessment methodologies and procedures can cover all forms of learning, including work-based learning, and facilitate the validation of skills and competences acquired prior to training;
  • Building on established contacts and on new contacts established with the skills demand side during the skills intelligence phase, reaching out to providers of employment opportunities, such as private and public employers and employment services, for potential matching with training graduates;
  • Identifying adequate measures to track learners after completing their training in order to provide “feedback loops”. These tracking and feedback systems can build on information from companies, learners/employees, as well as public information resources and labour market stakeholders;
  • Proposing the appropriate measures for the formal recognition of the new or adapted vocational VET and HE curricula and qualifications in the countries where partners are located and in the industrial ecosystem covered. Designing a long term action plan for the progressive roll-out of project deliverables after the project has finished
  • This plan shall be based on sustained partnerships between education and training providers, key industry stakeholders and public authorities (regional or national) at the appropriate level to facilitate/strengthen multi-stakeholder skills partnerships under the Pact for Skills for re- and upskilling the workforce. It should include the identification of appropriate governance structures, as well as plans for scalability and financial sustainability;
  • The plan shall ensure the appropriate visibility and wide dissemination of the results, including at EU and national/regional political level and include details on how the roll-out will be implemented at national and/or regional levels with relevant public authorities;
  • The plan shall foresee how the deliverables of the project, in particular the skills intelligence, the strategy and the training programmes, will be updated following the end of the 4 year duration of the project, including by foreseeing its future sources of funding;
  • The plan shall indicate how EU funding opportunities (e.g. recovery and resilience facility (RRF), EU multiannual financial framework (MFF) 2021-2027, including European Structural Funds, InvestEU, Erasmus+), as well as private investment and national/regional funding can support skills strategies. This should take into account Smart Specialisation Strategies, European cluster partnerships, the networks of Centres of Vocational Excellence and the Innovation Communities of the EIT.
• Delivering the ‘core’ curricula and training programmes
  • Developing delivery methodologies for the curricula and training programmes, that are adapted to the various target groups, using innovative approaches to teaching and learning, including the provision of work-based learning, the use of ICTs (e.g. blended learning, simulators, augmented reality, etc.), virtual/blended mobility solutions for learners and staff, and open educational resources (e.g. AI-enhanced learning, MOOC´s291); 
  • Developing actions to facilitate inter-generational transfer of professional knowledge; 
  • Describing the ways in which assessment methodologies and procedures can cover all forms of learning, including work-based learning, and facilitate the validation of skills and competences acquired prior to training; 
  • Building on established contacts and on new contacts established with the skills demand side during the skills intelligence phase, reaching out to providers of employment opportunities, such as private and public employers and employment services, for potential matching with training graduates;
  • Identifying adequate measures to track learners after completing their training in order to provide “feedback loops”292. These tracking and feedback systems can build on information from companies, learners/employees, as well as public information resources and labour market stakeholders; 
  • Proposing the appropriate measures for the formal recognition of the new or adapted vocational VET and HE curricula and qualifications in the countries where partners are located and in the industrial ecosystem covered.   
• Designing a long term action plan for the progressive roll-out of project deliverables after the project has finished
• • This plan shall be based on sustained partnerships between education and training providers, key industry stakeholders and public authorities (regional or national) at the appropriate level to facilitate/strengthen multi-stakeholder skills partnerships under the Pact for Skills for re- and upskilling the workforce. It should include the identification of appropriate governance structures, as well as plans for scalability and financial sustainability;
  • The plan shall ensure the appropriate visibility and wide dissemination of the results, including at EU and national/regional political level and include details on how the roll-out will be implemented at national and/or regional levels with relevant public authorities;
  • The plan shall foresee how the deliverables of the project, in particular the skills intelligence, the strategy and the training programmes, will be updated following the end of the 4 year duration of the project, including by foreseeing its future sources of funding;
  • The plan shall indicate how EU funding opportunities (e.g. recovery and resilience facility (RRF), EU multiannual financial framework (MFF) 2021-2027, including European Structural Funds, InvestEU, Erasmus+), as well as private investment and national/regional funding can support skills strategies. This should take into account Smart Specialisation Strategies, European cluster partnerships, the networks of Centres of Vocational Excellence and the Innovation Communities of the EIT.Delivering the ‘core’ curricula and training programmes
  • Developing delivery methodologies for the curricula and training programmes, that are adapted to the various target groups, using innovative approaches to teaching and learning, including the provision of work-based learning, the use of ICTs (e.g. blended learning, simulators, augmented reality, etc.), virtual/blended mobility solutions for learners and staff, and open educational resources (e.g. AI-enhanced learning, MOOC´s291);
  • Developing actions to facilitate inter-generational transfer of professional knowledge;
  • Describing the ways in which assessment methodologies and procedures can cover all forms of learning, including work-based learning, and facilitate the validation of skills and competences acquired prior to training;
  • Building on established contacts and on new contacts established with the skills demand side during the skills intelligence phase, reaching out to providers of employment opportunities, such as private and public employers and employment services, for potential matching with training graduates;
  • Identifying adequate measures to track learners after completing their training in order to provide “feedback loops”. These tracking and feedback systems can build on information from companies, learners/employees, as well as public information resources and labour market stakeholders;
  • Proposing the appropriate measures for the formal recognition of the new or adapted vocational VET and HE curricula and qualifications in the countries where partners are located and in the industrial ecosystem covered. Designing a long term action plan for the progressive roll-out of project deliverables after the project has finished
  • This plan shall be based on sustained partnerships between education and training providers, key industry stakeholders and public authorities (regional or national) at the appropriate level to facilitate/strengthen multi-stakeholder skills partnerships under the Pact for Skills for re- and upskilling the workforce. It should include the identification of appropriate governance structures, as well as plans for scalability and financial sustainability;
  • The plan shall ensure the appropriate visibility and wide dissemination of the results, including at EU and national/regional political level and include details on how the roll-out will be implemented at national and/or regional levels with relevant public authorities;
  • The plan shall foresee how the deliverables of the project, in particular the skills intelligence, the strategy and the training programmes, will be updated following the end of the 4 year duration of the project, including by foreseeing its future sources of funding;
  • The plan shall indicate how EU funding opportunities (e.g. recovery and resilience facility (RRF), EU multiannual financial framework (MFF) 2021-2027, including European Structural Funds, InvestEU, Erasmus+), as well as private investment and national/regional funding can support skills strategies. This should take into account Smart Specialisation Strategies, European cluster partnerships, the networks of Centres of Vocational Excellence and the Innovation Communities of the EIT.

Alliances for Innovation are required to apply EU wide instruments and tools, such as the EQF, ESCO, Europass (including European Digital Credentials for Learning), EQAVET and ESG, whenever relevant. If proposals suggest, for example, creating communities of practices or developing web sites for collaboration, they should, where relevant, build on, and make use of, existing online platforms like the School Education Platform, EPALE, or the EPALE Community of VET practitioners. To try and test new curricula or new training and learning methods, Alliances for Innovation may organise learning mobility activities of students, teachers, researchers and staff in so far as they support/complement the main activities of the partnerships and bring added value in the implementation of the project’s objectives.